6/6/22, 10:35 PM How do I gain loyal students from the first lesson?

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How do I gain loyal students from the first

lesson?
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14. After Lesson Operation

Asking new students what they want to learn before their first lesson will increase the chances
of them booking another lesson with you.

Here’s why.

Students can tell immediately that you are someone who goes the extra mile to care personally
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about their needs. They know the first lesson will not be a waste of time as you go through the
tedious steps of ascertaining what their requirements are for the entire thirty minutes. You’ve
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6/6/22, 10:35 PM How do I gain loyal students from the first lesson? – italki Help and Support

already done your homework. You can pinpoint their needs ahead of time, and zero in on

something during the first lesson. They won't hesitate to book another lesson with you as they
know how you teach and what the second lesson will be like.

Secondly, reaching out ahead of time shows good customer service and professionalism. The
Italki staff have received good feedback from students about specific teachers—those who’ve
asked for the requirements before their first lesson. This practice not only made the students
feel valued and established rapport from day one but also demonstrated the teachers’
dedication to his/her profession.

Third, you become the teacher that stands out from the crowd. Italki has a policy: Each italki
student has only three chances of taking trial lessons with three different teachers. Imagine
this scenario: a student books trial lessons with three teachers. Teachers A and B spent 30
minutes asking what the student would like to learn in their first sessions. Teacher C, however,
fully understood the student’s needs before their first lesson commenced and had a very
prepared and customized lesson ready to go.

Which teacher would you choose?

Spending just a moment of time reaching out ahead of time can make all the difference to your
new students. This practice can make an excellent first impression, and it can help your
students to feel more comfortable and relaxed in their first lesson with you. It can also help you
to feel more prepared. Try it out for yourself to see how it can impact the number of students
who choose to rebook with you.

How do you reach out to your students?

A student who has never booked a lesson with you now cannot directly message you. Instead,
he/she must click the “contact teacher” button to submit a contact teacher form to you. The
contact teacher form lists some questions related to student learning requirements. You will
receive the contact teacher forms in your messages.

Please make sure you check your messages and follow up with those students. This is very
important! They will be your potential students and may book a lesson with you if you are able
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to understand their requirements and provide good customer service. The questions asked on
the contact teacher form can be changed by selecting other questions or setting up your own
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6/6/22, 10:35 PM How do I gain loyal students from the first lesson? – italki Help and Support
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question in Teacher Settings>>Teacher Profile>>Contact Form. You may prepare your first
lesson with the new student by understanding the answers on the contact teacher form.

Students do have the option of directly booking a lesson with you without filling out the contact
teacher form. Please note that we highly encourage teachers to message new students about
their learning requirements, motivation and language proficiency level after they send a lesson
request to you.

7. Lesson Requests
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Comments
22 comments Sort by 

Bronwyn Conlon November 27, 2019 12:12

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20

These are great suggestions, but honestly sometimes the student just won't respond ⬇
before that first class...! I literally had my very first Conversation Practice lesson today and
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messaged the student twice in the preceding days to try and get some more information
about his goals, level, etc and I got nothing back from him! So it was just a case of
launching the call today and hoping for the best...! Thankfully it went well, but I honestly
think that it's possible he simply didn't understand the messages I was sending to ask for
more info... In that case, he wouldn't be able to respond to them anyway...

I think the clarity before a class begins is going to be a bit of a hit and miss game... Some
students will respond, some won't... We'll just have to be prepared either way... Xxx

Mika November 29, 2019 11:39

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8

I've experienced the same thing as Bronwyn - sometimes students don't reply before the ⬇
class. Even if there is a response, a lot of students only superficially fill out the contact
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form (it's still useful for me to gauge somethings about a student) so the first lesson is
always just a getting-to-know-them/ breaking-the-ice kind of conversation. I've found
that people open up more about their needs and desires with the language learning
journey during the conversation, as opposed to, through messages.

The trial lesson option is a good option. If a student doesn't have any trial lessons left, I
still make sure that their first lesson with me is a 30-minute lesson. If they book an hour,
for example, I decline the request and send them a message with the reason. Most
students immediately book a 30-minute lesson instead.

I 100% think that a 30-minute conversation is better than a pre-planned lesson. But that
may be because that is what works for me and my students.

Guyomar November 29, 2019 12:37

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14

The advice doesn't match up to my experience. Usually, when a new student books a ⬇
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lesson, they don't send me any message at all. In the past, I followed up, asking them
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6/6/22, 10:35 PM How do I gain loyal students from the first lesson? – italki Help and Support
lesson, they don t send me any message at all. In the past, I followed up, asking them
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about their experience with the language, their goals --- and often got no response at all.
It's been my experience that students do NOT see it as going the extra mile, don't really

appreciate it and would prefer just to spend 5 minutes of the first meeting talking about
these things. I would prefer to know more about the student ahead of time because it
helps me prepare better, but it seems that most students don't feel a need to
communicate their needs ahead of time.

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Leslie December 01, 2019 03:42
37

It would be nice if students had unlimited trials. Teachers set the trial prices anyway so it ⬇
doesn't make much sense to limit it to only three. A limit to one per teacher would make
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more sense.

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Laurie S December 15, 2019 21:37
5

Leslie - 100% agree. ⬇

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Filippo Pistore January 10, 2020 10:52

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13

Completely agree with Leslie ⬇

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It would make sense for students to have unlimited trials, limited to one per teacher.

The purpose of a trial lesson should be to see if there is a good chemistry between a
specific teacher and the student.

Eunice Ruiz January 14, 2020 19:32

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7

Very good article. I have always done these steps, both in live classes in the schools ⬇
where I worked before, and now in Italki, because it is very important to know in advance
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what a student's needs are. This is very professional.

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I want to ask something important to ITALKI STAFF:
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6/6/22, 10:35 PM How do I gain loyal students from the first lesson? – italki Help and Support

Why do teachers no longer have access to the full profile of students? Knowing your
approximate age and knowing about your experiences in general will help us know what
kind of people we are dealing with. Because just as they want and have the right to know
something about their future teachers or tutors of the language they learn, it helps them
to be able to choose with what kind of person they want to practice their Spanish, we will
not be blind either, guessing who we will teach for the first time .
Hopefully this comment and question, be considered by you, please.
Thank you

⬆
Eunice Ruiz January 14, 2020 19:36
2

I want to ask something important to ITALKI STAFF: ⬇

Why do teachers no longer have access to the full profile of students? Knowing your
⚙
approximate age and knowing about your experiences in general will help us know what
kind of people we are dealing with. Because just as they want and have the right to know
something about their future teachers or tutors of the language they learn, it helps them
to be able to choose with what kind of person they want to practice their Spanish, we will
not be blind either, guessing who we will teach for the first time .
Hopefully this comment and question, be considered by you, please.
Thank you

Dann Connery March 29, 2020 16:20

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-1

i am completly agree. ⬇
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Pete J April 18, 2020 21:10

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1

Project experience and certainty but if there happens to be a tricky question which you ⬇
cannot answer immediately - eg: a particular rule on which prepositions in certain
⚙
situations in English - don't be afraid to admit you're not immediately sure but will clarify
and let the student know next time. The student will be accepting of that as long as you
deliver on the promise.

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jid l i il
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6/6/22, 10:35 PM How do I gain loyal students from the first lesson? – italki Help and Support
Majid Alqassim April 24, 2020 22:15
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0

These are really insightful. thanks, ⬇

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Simone Wentzel May 07, 2020 19:00

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0

Super good points. On the fence of the limited trial lessons however when I say that I ⬇
know us as teachers need to step it up and make it worth the student' time and money.
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Ashton Gray May 17, 2020 20:22

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2

In my point of view; ⬇
⚙
It all depends on the communication of the student and the teacher.

I have have noticed some students are more private with what their goals and
motivations.

Before the session or even during the lesson.

I suggest that Italki makes the students chose at least 3 areas of interest (or hashtags or
topics) prior to the meeting - in this way, before the session you can have material
relevant to the student.

Otherwise you can go into a meeting blind.

I think this will save some trouble and save time if a student and teacher are not
compatible.

I hope this helps.

Ambiorix Encarnacion June 14, 2020 00:35

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1

It has happened to me that they don't reply back; however, I try to look at their profile ⬇
and see their level or if they have received classes already, that can make an idea about
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the student. When I meet the student, I make them talk about them; I lead them to use
some structures of the language in those first 10 minutes and see where the student has
some weakness that they have to work. From there I can build a lesson and it has usuallySupport
worked really well.
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Craig Feris July 20, 2020 21:51

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2

I have a simple system that has worked very well for me. I have a set of introduction ⬇
questions about general topics to allow for personalisation. Each question has a common
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grammatical error, one example is 'Do you enjoy cook food?'. I ask students to correct
the sentence and afterwards, they can answer it. This enables me to gauge their grammar
knowledge in their ability to correct the sentence, assess their vocabulary knowledge as
they answer the question, and also get to know them in a very personal sense which
gives me material for upcoming lessons.

I do ask about their goals of course, and the questions are tied into that. The activity feels
a lot more natural and it shows that you are interested in the students and you have the
opportunity to showcase your skills as a teacher.

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Selena July 25, 2020 04:56
1

I just started my journey here as an Spanish and English teacher, and even tho knowing ⬇
that im not a Native American speaker I have gotten students for both languages, and
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for the time that im here I had the chance too meet up with them again, and when I ask
why they just tell me that its because of how confortable they felt with me since day one.

with my Spanish classes I have gotten the chance to engage the students with the
language because in our trial lesson I always share some interesting facts about any
Spanish word or slag that can be used everywhere they travel, and that have worked for
me, specially with the beginners. With my Spanish students with an advanced level I
always ask them for things that they interest and I get from wherever to get an
interesting fact, because been a teacher is not just knowing the language, is sharing
knowledge, so we should always be prepared for what might come tomorrow and know
how can we make them get involved in the language with us. obviously smile! smile all
the time, even tho you don't know what else to say :)

i don't know if this might be useful for you, but this have worked good for me :)

Saludos :)

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Ruth Martha Heckel October 16, 2020 22:24
0
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Thanks italki, ⬇
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I think the contact teacher form would be very useful. To know the learning requirment ⚙

and language proficiency of the student will make the first lesson more efficient to save

time and money.

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Bogdan November 29, 2020 22:22
-1

great review! ⬇
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Zudi December 12, 2020 06:32

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-1

it's very useful ⬇

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Marcellus MarcDonald March 31, 2021 23:50

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0

Avec un cours d'essai c'est comme une introduction pour montrer à mon étudiant ⬇
différents méthodes je vais utiliser.
⚙

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Elena Grebenyuk July 05, 2021 00:18
1

This is a very useful article, although, I agree with the comments above - most of the ⬇
students don't reply before the lessons or are superficial in answer, which doesn't really
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help in lesson prep.

So normally I use our trial lesson to get to know needs&goals of the students and to give
them something useful, i.e. conversational practice, curiosities about the culture and
mentality etc, depending on their language level a well.

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Sharon Business EU July 30, 2021 08:49 (Edited 10 months ago)
2
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Most students never reply while others come to a cheaper trial lesson with the intent of ⬇
never taking further lessons but wanting to have something done for them now Some
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never taking further lessons but wanting to have something done for them now. Some
⚙
want to practice for a job interview they have tomorrow or have a document checked.
They are just using them as cheap lessons. Others if you ask them before about their

level incorrectly guess their level and want something quite different from what they
state. Others may state they need say grammar practice but once you hear them you
know what they need is vocab practice etc. I think it is quite important to spend time
finding out what they want by speaking with them before presenting them with a lesson
as the student often doesn't know what they need and are basing their answers of
guesses or previous experiences. Doesn't a doctor spend time discussing what is wrong
with the patient before deciding on treatment? Even a hairdresser checks out your hair
and makes suggestions rather than just basing what they are doing on the booking
information.

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